


Third Time's the Charm

by helsinkibaby



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Canon Het Relationship, F/M, Fic Exchange, Het
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 12:31:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve proposes to Catherine three times. </p><p>For the Hawaii Five 0 Holiday Fic Exchange, for sarah_jones</p>
            </blockquote>





	Third Time's the Charm

The first time that Steve proposes to Catherine, if it can be called that, they are in some dive bar in some small town on shore leave. It's not a romantic setting by any means; there's a gang of them on leave from the ship, beer is flowing, the music thumping from the jukebox. The population of the bar can be easily categorised, the locals and the Navy, and there's a particular set of local men who don't seem too enamoured with these interlopers in their midst. They're shooting dirty looks across the bar from the moment Steve and his friends walk in, but it's when they start making several interesting comments about the Navy being no place for a woman that Steve's hackles really start to rise. 

One look at Cath tells him loud and clear that she's fuming just as much as he is and he's all ready to leap in and challenge them, defend her honour or some rubbish like that. 

Cath beats him to it. 

"Hey, Slick," she calls over to one of the more vocal hecklers. "Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, cause this little woman is ready to kick your ass."

There are catcalls and comments and a red faced Slick has no choice but to take her up on her offer and once again Steve's ready to step in and help. Something about the look on Cath's face stops him, because there's a smile hovering around her lips, a glint in her eyes that tells him she's ready for this. Besides, that same look tells him that she'll kick his ass if he steps in, and he's seen her in basic training, in combat, he knows she's well capable of it. 

Sure enough, Cath keeps her word, cleans the guy's clock in record time and looks damn good doing it. The Navy boys holler their approval as Slick slinks off, and Steve doesn't hold back any more, crosses to her and lifts her off her feet, swinging her around for good measure. Someone somewhere starts up a chorus of "Up Where We Belong" and Steve holds up a middle finger without ever breaking Catherine's gaze. 

"I am going to marry you one day," he declares and if that shocks her, or alarms her, she doesn't show it. 

She simply smiles even brighter and says, "OK." 

Then they begin playing pool against one another and the conversation is never mentioned again. 

*

The second time he proposes to Catherine, it's after what just might be the worst week of both of their lives. Cath's been overseas on deployment, one of those horrible Navy Intelligence missions where she's incommunicado and he only knows the vaguest details of where she might be. That doesn't matter though, not when he sees a news report about an explosion in Myanmar and all of a sudden a horrible tingle runs down his spine. 

He will never be able to say how he knows, but he does, and it only takes a couple of phone calls and a couple of favours called in to get his hunch confirmed. 

Yes, that's where Catherine was assigned. 

Yes, she was caught up in the explosion.

No, they don't know where, or how, she is. 

It takes twenty two of the longest hours of his life, twenty two hours where the 5-0 team are by his side constantly. Max comes in to offer whatever support he can, Kamekona arrives with the largest parcels of food Steve has ever seen in his life, supersized even by Kamekona's standards and Steve appreciates it, he really does, but he can't eat, can't think, can't do anything until he knows about Cath. 

But after twenty two hours, his buddy calls him back. 

Catherine is safe. She has cracked ribs, numerous bumps and bruises but all in all it's a miraculous escape and there are smiles and hugs and celebrations as Steve stands motionless, staring at the phone, unable to move. 

He only responds when Chin claps him on the shoulder, leaves his hand there and doesn't let it go. "You need to marry that girl," he says solemnly, so quietly that no-one else but Steve can hear him and Steve nods slowly. 

"I know."

Two days later, she arrives home and with the okay of the governor he's standing on the tarmac ready to meet her. She steps off the plane, walks stiffly and slowly towards him, not stopping until she is right in front of him. There is a long moment where she just stares at him and then she closes the distance between them, puts her arms around his waist and buries her head in his chest. He holds her for another long moment and then kisses the top of her head, says, "Let's get you home."

They arrive at his place and when she walks inside, she looks around, takes it all in. Her gaze falls on the couch, the couch where they've curled up so many times, either with takeout or a movie or just for a long makeout session that oftentimes leads to more. As she stares at it, she begins to tremble and she turns around to look at Steve and that's when it happens. 

His Cath - his beautiful, strong, amazing Cath - quietly and thoroughly falls to pieces. 

He catches her, folds her in his arms and carries her not to the couch but to their bedroom where he lets her cry until there are no more tears left. She falls into a deep sleep and sometime after, he follows her. 

He wakes first, watches her while she sleeps  and when her dark eyes open to his, he smiles, one that she returns. He kisses her then, soft and slow and when he pulls back, it's with an order. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

Cath's smile turns shaky. "Yes, sir."

"I mean it." Suddenly, he can't stop talking, a rarity from him but he doesn't want to stop. "You've been there for me through the best and worst times in my life... my dad dying, my mom not being dead... and I don't even want to know what I'd do without you." Her eyes are brimming with tears again and he reaches up and brushes them away. "Marry me."

The last two words make her jaw drop. "Steve..."

"Cath, I'm serious. I've asked you before...sort of... but I mean it this time. I don't want to imagine my life without you in it. I want you to be my wife."

She is shaking her head as she lays a finger across his lips. "I can't answer that," she tells him quietly and while his heart aches at the words, his head knows that she's right. "Not now... not like that." He looks down, nods, and she puts her finger under his chin, raises his head so that she can look in his eyes. "But ask me again sometime?"

He nods. "OK."

*

The third time he proposes to Catherine, it is at Danny and Kono's wedding reception. He'd been best man, and never so relieved that Danny had been convinced to not wear a tie. Cath was wearing some filmy excuse for a dress that covered her up completely, was utterly classy and still managed to be sexy enough to make Steve's head spin. She has never looked more beautiful and when they are swaying on the dance floor, looking across at the happy couple, lost in each other, he tells her that she's the most beautiful woman in the room. 

She tilts her head, a teasing smile on her lips. "Don't let Danny hear you say that."

"Danny's biased," he shrugs and she laughs. 

"And you're not?" 

He chooses to ignore that, instead thinking out loud. "Still... there must be something in it. I mean, after everything with Rachel, the hell he went through over that divorce? And here he is, coming back for more."

"That's what love is," Cath says, her eyes never leaving Danny and Kono. "Faith."

He glances over at the happy couple, then back at the woman in his arms and takes a deep breath. "So... how about it?"

"How about what?" Catherine's face is blank, too blank. She knows exactly what he's asking. 

"I've asked you before...twice before..."

"One and a half." He blinks, but she continues blithely, "The first one doesn't really count... it was an observation, not a question."

He stares at her and wonders how he can be so in love with a woman who would grammatically critique his proposal. "OK, whatever," he says. "But I meant it...both times. And I mean it now. Cath, I love you. I don't ever want anything to come between us. So... Catherine Rollins...will you marry me?"

Her smile is brighter than the sun and he's grinning before she says yes. He's all ready to kiss her but then he hears the next word, barely a breath away. "But..."

He frowns. "But what?"

For a moment, her gaze falters, a trace of uncertainty peeking in. Then she pushes it away, continues, "Aren't you worried people will think it's a shotgun wedding?"

It takes a moment for her words to sink in. "A shotgun... you mean...."  He can hardly believe it but she's nodding and smiling and then he's kissing her soundly, lifting her off her feet for good measure. 

Turns out third time's the charm and she was definitely worth waiting for. 


End file.
